Captured
by annavale23
Summary: Set after season 1, AU in which Garrett and Ward escaped. While on a mission, Skye gets captured by HYDRA. Now, she's trapped in a cell waiting for the team to rescue her...but Ward's in the cell with her. One of the people she hates most in the world, and they are both tied to chairs. And their struggles only begin there. Please review x
1. Chapter 1: Captured

**Hey! Here's my newest fan fic! This**** fan fiction takes place after season 1, but if Garrett had never been shot, but escaped with Ward. **

**The chapters will be short, and I only plan for it to last for around 4 or 5 chapters. **

**Enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

* * *

_**Skye**_

My hands tingle from blood loss as I struggle against my bonds. I glare at my captor: the one and only Grant Douglas Ward.

He watches me with narrowed eyes. The room is silent except for mine and his breathing. Only, he's not really my captor. He's a prisoner, tied to a chair opposite me. Because when he brought me in, Garrett punched me, and he got defensive. So they chucked him in with me. That was 13 hours ago, by my estimate.

24 hours ago, I was captured by HYDRA. Captured because I was stupid enough to go in alone, without back up. And now they had me, right where they wanted me.

The door opens and Garrett strolls in. He laughs slightly at my expression.

"Oh, sweetheart." He chuckles. "Don't like the company?"

"Screw you!" I yell, trying to get free. Garrett watches my antics with amusement.

"You're hilarious, sweetheart." He tells me before moving to Ward.

"Why did you have to turn on me, son?" He asks. "You hurt Skye." Ward glares.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot: you're sweet on the girl." Garret shrugs. "Well, she's going to tell us what we need, before I hand her over to Flowers. And you, Ward, are going to help me."

Both Ward and I look confused until Garrett whips out a gun. The safety makes a loud, audible noise as he flicks it off. I swallow. What does Garrett want to do with it?

Garrett walks over to me and strokes the muzzle down my face. I try not to flinch.

"You still say 'bang' when someone pulls the trigger?" Garrett asks in a whisper. In a flash, he point the gun at Ward and shoots him in the shoulder. Ward grunts in pain, his face twitching as he tries to suppress it. I watch in horror as blood spills out of the wound, staining his shirt.

"Bang." Garrett says before walking out of the room. "I'll be back!" He calls.

Although he's the enemy, I can't help but ask Ward if he's okay. Ward gives me a familiar irritated look.

"No, I'm just fine." He says sarcastically. "It's not like I was shot, or anything."

"Sorry for caring, Ward!" I shoot back angrily.

"Skye, would you just focus on yourself?" Ward asks, exasperated. "You need to get out of here, before Garrett hurts you too."

"I'm currently tied to a chair." I point out snarkily. "How do you suggest I get out of here, Ward?"

He groans, rolling his eyes. I notice the flash of pain that goes through his eyes before he controls it. And then I consider how much pain he might be from the still leaking wound.

"Are you okay?" I ask suddenly

"I'll live." Ward grimaces. "I've had worse."

We fall silent for a moment.

"You know I'm sorry right?" Ward asks suddenly. "I never wanted you to get hurt, but-"

"You're a raging sociopath who's loyalty was never to Coulson but the psychopath that just shot you." I interrupt. A ghost of a smile tugs on Ward's lips, despite his pain. And for a brief moment, I have my old SO back, before we found out that he was a traitor. But it's gone quickly, when I remember what this man did to Fitz.

"Yeah." He agrees. "Something like that."

_**Coulson**_

"We have to find her, May!" I yell at Melinda May, one of my only friends.

"And we will, Phil." May says calmly. "Simmons is working on that right now. So calm down and drink some tea."

_May's right_. I think, taking deep breaths. _Skye's going to be fine_. I sip at my tea_. Please be fine, Skye._

"We've found her!" Simmons screams from the lab. "Her tracking chip finally solidified, so she's stopped moving."

"Let's go, then." I say, pausing only to say:

"Good job, Simmons."


	2. Chapter 2: Stabbing

**Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter! Thanks for all the favourites and follows. **

**(There is some violence in the chapter. Just to warn you.)**

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* * *

_**Ward**_

Garrett walks in again, approximately 2 hours and 13 minutes later, give or take a few minutes. He's wearing his characteristic smirk that fills me with dread: he's going to hurt someone, and all I can do is hope it's not Skye.

Skye. She's my light in my darkness, but I can't taint her. I have to make sure that she survives, even if that means I die. It's the only way to make up for what I did.

Garrett punches Skye in the stomach. She gasps in pain, but bites her lip to stop any more noise getting out. I growl loudly. Garrett laughs.

He crouches in front of Skye.

"Now, girl, I need you to hack something for me. An old S.H.I.E.L.D file. Will you do that for me?" He asks in a deadly soft voice.

"Go to hell!" She spits. Skye will never change. She doesn't ever give in to the enemy. But here, it might kill her. Garrett's expression darkens. He walks over to me calmly and pulls put a long, wicked looking knife. I swallow, knowing he's going to use that on me, and concentrate on distancing myself from the situation. I lock myself up in my head, a trick I learnt courtesy of my older brother. I don't want Skye to worry about me. My technique works because I don't react even as Garrett stabs the knife through my hand. Skye screams, and Garrett smiles.

"So you still care about him, then?" He muses. "I think we're going to have some fun now..."

* * *

_**Coulson**_

"May, how far?" I ask May urgently. She glares at me.

"Get out of my cockpit." She says in a deadly calm voice, one I remember means _get out or I'll kill you_. I back up quickly, worrying about Skye. The girl is practically a daughter to me, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her. Skye means a lot to me. With her affectionate nickname (AC), her snarky attitude, her wittiness...she's a part of the family. And no one hurts my family.

_I'll kill anyone who as much as leaves a mark on her..._I think darkly as I march over to Simmons. Maybe _she'll have something for me._

* * *

_**Skye**_

Ward has a glassy look in his eyes as Garrett grinds the knife into his hand. I scream in horror. Garrett grins sadistically. And here I thought Ward was crazy: next to this man, he looks like a huge, fuzzy teddy bear.

"I'll keep hurting him until you help me, girl." He tells me. My eyes are open wide: I don't know if I believe him. Isn't Ward meant to be his right hand man? As if sensing my doubt, Garrett punches Ward in the jaw. Ward grimaces.

"Next time, I'll break his wrist." Garrett informs me. "I'll come back in a hour. Give me the right answer then, lass."

"Are you okay?" I ask Ward for the second time in 4 hours, but this time I'm actually concerned. Ward gives me a weak smile.

"I'm fine. Didn't feel it." I don't have to be a genius to tell he's lying to protect me. "Skye, don't give into him, okay? I can take it, and I'm sure May's been teaching you some tricks. If Garrett gets his hands on the information in that file..." Ward shakes his head. "Can you hold out, Skye?"

"Yes. Can you?" I fix him with a pointed look. Ward nods.

"I'm a trained specialist, Skye. I can deal with a little torture."

_Come_ _on_, _Coulson_. I think. Co_me and save me already!_


	3. Chapter 3: Breaking

**The next chapter! Thanks for all the follows, favourites! They make me so happy!**

**Enjoy, and don't forget to review! x**

**(_This chapter might be considered graphic/violent. So, you've been warned, just in case)._**

* * *

**_Skye_**

"Why did you betray us, Ward?" I ask suddenly. He looks up from the floor, and I notice that his eyes have an unfocused look to them. He breathes shakily, blinking a few times.

"I didn't want to." He says finally. "You guys got under my skin. But I owe Garrett everything, Skye."

"You don't have to do as he says, you know." I point out. "You have a choice."

"No, I don't." Ward murmurs with a faint smile on his lips.

"Ward, are you okay?" I ask. "Because you look terrible."

"The bullet hole's hurting." He admits. "But don't worry about me. I'm a traitor, remember?"

_Or are you just a misguided guy who's following the wrong man?_ I wonder.

"Ward, I'm sorry that you got hurt." I say impulsively.

"It's my own fault. For loving you too much to let Garrett hurt you." He responds.

"You still love me, huh?" I raise an eyebrow quirkily.

"Of course, Skye. I'll always love you." He tells me. "You're the only one I've ever allowed myself to love."

"You are really creepy, you know that?" I say next. "Telling me that you love me although we've never dated."

"Suppose so." Ward says, his mouth twitching.

"How long until he comes back?" I ask.

"Soon." Ward replies.

* * *

_**Ward**_

I clench my jaw tight as Garrett grabs my wrist in his hands, temporarily untying it. He holds it delicately.

"Wanna help me, girl?" Garrett asks. Skye shakes her head.

"Fuck yourself, Garrett!" She swears. Garrett shrugs.

"Maybe I'll fuck you instead." Garrett grins wickedly. I growl.

"Don't threaten her!" I yell. Garrett squeezes my wrist tight and I hiss in pain.

"I'm going to break this wrist in _5...4...3..._" Garrett counts down. I try and tell Skye with my eyes not to worry.

"_2...1!"_ With one quick movement, Garrett breaks my wrist. I bite down on my own tongue to stop myself from screaming. Then Garrett ties it back down, tighter than needs be. I can't think through the pain in my wrist.

"Still not going to help me?" Garrett asks Skye. "Because I can do so much more..."

* * *

**_Coulson_**

"We have to find her!" I say as May lands the bus. We're in a forest, hill filled area, watching a base. We leave Fitzsimmons on the bus with Mack to protect them, taking Hunter and Bobbi with us.

May puts down the binoculars.

"Let's go in."

"Yeah!" Hunter cocks his gun. "Let's kill some HYDRA scum then."

"Hunter, you're so coarse." Bobbi grumbles.

"Shut it, Bob."

* * *

_**Skye**_

Ward breathes in sharply, wincing when his ribs hurt. Garrett leaves the room, after beating Ward to pretty much shit.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay? I'm really sorry!" The words tumble put of my mouth.

"I'm fine." Ward manages to chuckle despite his injuries. "Remember, I'm a traitor."

"You did what you thought was right." I say quietly.

"I never thought that it was right, Skye." Ward corrects. "I did it because I followed Garrett."

"Follow_ed_?" I pick up on his use of past tense. Ward nods.

"When Coulson comes for you, I'll turn myself in." He informs me. "You know, if I'm not dead by then."

"Grant, I'm not going to let you die for me!" I shoot back. Ward lifts up his eyebrows.

"Grant?" He asks. I flush.

"Don't mention it again, _Ward_." I reply, putting more emphasis on 'Ward'.

"I won't."

* * *

_**Coulson**_

I shoot a guard in the chest, not bothering to use ICERS. These people took my baby girl away from me, so they will suffer. May seems to agree, shooting two guards simultaneously. The corridors are made of a slippery metal, but that doesn't halt Bobbi as she knocks out some guards before killing them outright.

"What if we find Garrett? Do we capture him or kill him?" Bobbi questions.

"Kill him. Same with Ward, if you see him." May responds grimly.

* * *

_**Skye**_

We hear an alarm go off outside the door. Ward blinks at me sleepily.

"Stay awake." I order him, thinking that he might have concussion. Ward nods slowly. "If there's an alarm going off, does that mean that Coulson's here?" I say hopefully.

Come get us, Coulson. I think desperately.


	4. Chapter 4: Shooting

**Howdy! Next chapter! Yay!**

**In a few chapters, I'll be wrapping this story up. Thanks for all the follows and favourites. I did _ not _think that it would be so popular!**

**(Now, I don't know if what I describe here with Ward and the chair is actually physically possible, but you know, writers take liberties!)**

**Enjoy, and don't forget to review! x**

* * *

_**Skye**_

"Ward, you awake?" I ask urgently. He nods slowly.

"I...wanna sleep, Skye." He mutters.

"Well, you can't." I pull against my bindings. I know enough about concussion to know that you're not meant to sleep, especially with the other injuries he's sustained. Somehow over the last few hours, my thoughts have changed so I no longer consider Ward the most hated person in my universe. Now, I don't want him to die. "If you really love me, you'll stay awake."

Ward smiles, blinking rapidly. He glances at his bindings.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asks, his words slurred.

I don't have time to reply because right then, Garrett strides in, a gun at the ready. He points it at Ward's head.

"I'll shoot him through the brains!" He screams. "I'll do it, I swear. So do as I say, you stupid girl!"

I stare at Garrett and see how crazy this man really is. He's going to shoot Ward, who he made depend in him, rely on him?

"Don't do anything rash-" I start nervously (I don't want to die!) when Ward slips out of the rope binding his wrists to the arms of the chair and grabs the gun, holding his injured wrist to his chest. He's clearly been loosening it while we talked. I just hope that his love for me triumphs over his loyalty to Garrett.

"Get out of my way, or I'll shoot you." States Ward calmly. Garrett pauses, and then he actually starts to laugh. I stare at him incredulously as the loud, hacking sounds spill out of his lips.. Is the guy that deranged that he's laughing?

Garrett clears his throat, still chuckling.

"You won't, Ward. I know you, remember, son." Garrett manages to get out in between the hysterical laughter.

Ward flinches at the word 'son'. I wonder how he's even standing up. He looks like a punching bag that's really worse for wear: but then again, he wasn't a specialist for nothing. He's probably been trained to ignore the pain. I struggle against my bindings, frustrated that I'm on the sidelines yet again, defenceless.

"I'm not your son." Ward says lowly.

The door swings open and May stands there. Relief fills me until I realise that she'll shoot Ward, thinking he's bad. I rock in my chair, fighting harder than ever to get free. Garrett looks panicked. His eyes scream out the words: _The Cavalry? Was not expecting her!_

"Both of you, stand down." May orders, pointing her gun at them both. "Drop the gun, and then maybe I'll shoot you quickly instead of slowly."

"Don't shoot Ward!" I scream at May. "Don't do it, May!" She glances at me, confused by my words, and that's when Garrett makes his move,

He bets on Ward not shooting him as he charges at May and grabs her gun. He goes to shoot her when-

BANG!

Garrett falls to the ground, dead.

And Ward pulled the trigger.


	5. Chapter 5: Hurting

**Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter!**

**I can't believe how popular this is! Thanks for all the follows and favourites! **

**Enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

* * *

_**Ward**_

I stare as Garrett drops to the floor, a bullet in his chest.

_I just killed my mentor..._

May pushes past me and unties Skye. I swallow, and close my eyes briefly, compartmentalising. I can't think about what I just did.

"Grant?" Skye asks softly. I look at her.

"We should probably go." I say, not looking at Garrett's dead body.

"We?" May scowls. Skye nods.

"He's coming with us, May." Her tone is firm. May sighs.

"Come on then." She grumbles.

Suddenly, all my injuries crash into me. I try to stay upright, but I can't, falling to the ground, holding my wrist close to my chest, feeling every injury, every wound that Garrett had inflicted on me. I stare at the gun in shock.

I had shot Garrett.

I had _shot_ Garrett.

I had shot _Garrett!_

Vaguely, I hear Skye's voice, feel her shaking my shoulder, but the roaring in my ears is too loud. I close my eyes, curling up into a ball on the concrete floor.

Garrett was dead. My mentor was dead, at my hands. What was I meant to do without him? My head, so accustomed to his constant presence there, feels empty without him telling me to get it right or I'd pay the price.

_John was_ dead.

John _was dead._

_What am I meant to do without him?_

_Who am I without him?_

**_Skye_**

After Bobbi and Hunter had mopped up the rest of the HYDRA Agents, we got Ward, who had fallen unconscious due to shock, to the medical bay. Simmons gives me a nervous look, pulling on her fingers.

"But he's HYDRA-" She starts, but I interrupt her viciously.

"He's _injured_, Simmons. And he shot _Garrett_ for me. I think that _exonerates_ him." I snap angrily. Simmons blinks, shocked by my venomous tone, I'm sure. Especially, since I hated Ward with a passion after he betrayed us for Garrett. Quietly, Simmons starts to tend to Wards injuries - and I never leave the room, my eyes permanently fixed on Ward's face.

* * *

When Grant wakes up, he blinks a few times before realising that I'm sitting next to him, watching.

"Hey." I smile. "Don't try to get up."

"Skye?" He asks fuzzily. "Are you okay? You're not injured?"

"A bit bruised, but I'll live." I assure him. "Thanks to you."

Grant shuts his eyes briefly.

"I shot him." His voice is just above a whisper. "I shot Garrett."

"To protect me." I remind him gently.

"He's gone." Grant whispers. "He's really gone."

"I'm sorry." I say honestly. I see just how broken Grant is, his eyes show his shattered soul, and I wonder if he'll be able to cope now that Garrett's not there. He was such a huge part in Grants life and now he's just...gone.

On impulse, I lean forward and brush my lips against his. I pull back, blushing. Grant looks at me, surprised.

"Did you just kiss me?" He asks, stunned. My lips tug upwards into a smile.

"What, are your robot circuits frying?" I tease, my cheeks still coloured a flaming red. Grant smiles gently, but I can still see his sorrow in his eyes.

"I missed that." He tells me softly. "You calling me a robot."

"I missed you." I blurt out. Grant raises his hand, the one that Garrett stabbed, and tenderly tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. I blush again, and this time it's not from embarrassment.

* * *

**_Coulson_**

May and I turn away from the scene unfolding in front of us, a light smile threatening to appear on my lips.

"He's still a traitor." I say. May raises her eyebrows at me.

"But he did shoot Garrett." I admit. May nods slowly.

"And he did it for Skye." I add. May glances at me with her dark eyes.

"So maybe I'll consider not shooting in between the eyes." I finally let the smile reach my lips. May's mouth moves into an approximation of a smile.

"Thanks, May. You're so good to talk with." I say, even though she is yet to utter a single sound.

May casts one last look at Skye and Ward before we both walk off in search of Bobbi, Hunter and the rest of the team to announce the news that Ward will not be dying today.

"What should we do with the body?" May asks finally. I give her a long, thoughtful look as I consider my answer.

"We'll let Ward deal with it in the way he wants to." I decide. "After all, Garrett was practically a father to him."


	6. Chapter 6: Tormenting

**Here's a really short update, people! Just wanted to assure you that this fan fiction WILL be continuing, as now it's focus will be on the hold Garrett has over Ward, even from the grave.**

**As usual, thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews!**

**Enjoy, and don't forger to review!**

* * *

_**Ward**_

I stare at Skye's sleeping face. She's fallen asleep in the chair next to me (again) and I can't help but wonder why. How can she forgive me, after all that I've done? I've killed so many people that my ledger is not only stained red, it's dripping all over the floor. I killed the man I considered like a father.

How can she even bear to be near me, knowing what I've done?

I drop my head into my hands. My head aches for more than one reason: one, because I hit it, and two, because I miss him. I miss John terribly, even though I know I shouldn't. The man was a cold blooded murder, who didn't care about me (shown by his last actions). But I can't help but miss the man who left me all alone in the cold, Wyoming woods for 6 months with only a dog. Who manipulated me, who used me, who would still be using me if I hadn't put a bullet through his head for Skye.

And I don't know if I can cope with that.

* * *

**Up next: Garrett's funeral! **

**(P.S. if you have any ideas about what could happen to Ward and Skye next as they try to move on with their lives with Garrett's presence hovering over them, please tell me in a review, and I'll credit you with it if I use your idea!)**


	7. Chapter 7: Burying

**Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter, where Ward is burying Garrett and his memories of the man...but will Garrett stay out of Ward's head? In the next chapter, Ward will be seeing Fitzsimmons! Tell me in a review if you have any ideas for what Garrett's memory should do to Ward, and I'll credit you with the idea if I use it.**

**Thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews!**

**Enjoy, and dot forget to review!**

* * *

**_Ward_**

I stand on a grassy hill, a shovel slung across my shoulders. I take off the rucksack on my back and place it on the floor. Then I start to dig. It's awkward at first, due to my wrist only being partially healed, but I soon get used to it.

The manual labour is satisfying. It reminds me of when I lived in the woods, where I had to work for everything. Where I had to work or die.

.

Skye and May watch me, guns - not ICERs, real guns - at the ready. Ready to shoot me if I try to run. Skye wanted to come alone, but Coulson refused. Just in case this was just a huge plot on my half. So May tagged along as well.

I finish digging a deep enough hole and set the shovel against a nearby tree. I take the coffee tin stuffed full of Garrett's ashes out of the bag and set in in the bottom of the hole I've dug. I grab the shovel again and start to dump the soil over the top of it, burying Garrett into the ground.

.

Strangely, I don't feel that upset that he's gone. Any feelings I might have felt towards him is firmly locked down, buried deep into my sub conscious, joining the memories of my parents and my brothers. It's something I've been doing for years. Whenever anything happens that threatens to compromise me, I stop thinking about it. It's a skill Garrett found useful in me, and perhaps one of the few skills I had that Garrett didn't develop for me.

I breathe in the cold air as I pat the soil down on top of Garrett's makeshift urn. When I've finished, I don't bother marking the grave. I'm never going to want to return to here. And Garrett doesn't deserve a gravestone afterwards.

.

"Have a nice time rotting in hell, John." I mutter before picking up the shovel and now empty rucksack. "You'll probably overthrow the devil himself, knowing you."

_Compartmentalise, Ward_. I tell myself as I head back down towards the girls.

.

"You done here?" May asks briskly. I nod. "Let's go back then."

May leads the way back to the car, and Skye gently touches my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asks me. I smile slightly at her and shrug. She narrows her eyes.

"I know that shrugging is your way of deflecting, Grant." Skye informs me, linking her arm through mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see May eyeing us suspiciously. I ignore her. She can think what she want, because I don't care. I look into Skye's chocolate brown eyes and smile again.

* * *

Later, I sit in the medical bay, since I'm yet to be allowed to leave. I close my eyes, crossing my legs underneath me. Garrett being dead is affecting me more than I'm going to let people see. The man was the biggest part of my life. He was my main reason for living, until Skye came along. Some people might call what Garrett and I had weird and creepy, and they would be right. Because to Garrett, I was nothing more than a weapon. Something to be used. And I was a loyal dog, following his orders right to the end. Never questioning them, always looking for the approval of my master. Taking whatever he would give me like a pathetic creature.

.

My eyes flash open and I'm breathing heavily. I take a moment to try and calm down. I can't let the memory of Garrett get to me.

_Compartmentalise, Ward_. I remind myself, while a traitorous little voice in my head says:

_It's a little too late for that, Ward. He's already gotten under your skin._

* * *

**_Up_** **_next: Ward has to face Fitzsimmons, whom he hasn't seen since he tried to kill them._**


	8. Chapter 8: Hallucinating

**The next update is here! Yay! Following up on a suggestion from a guest, Ward is going to be suffering from hallucinations of Garrett for a while, so tell me what you think of that!**

**Without further ado, enjoy! (And don't forget to review!)**

* * *

_**Skye**_

"It's not just me you're going to have to apologise to, you know." I tell Grant as we sit in his new room, our backs against the bed as we sit on the floor. Grant visibly pales.

"Fitzsimmons." He murmurs. "They won't forgive me."

"You can't say that!" I wrap my arms around his shoulders, although privately I'm inclined to agree with him. Fitz us now permanently damaged from what Grant did to him, and Simmons, usually so calm and docile, hates him with a fiery passion.

"Well, I'll approach them soon." Grant promises me.

* * *

_**Ward**_

Garrett leans against the wall, his arms crossed across his chest as I work out, punching the punch bag furiously.

"You're working yourself to the bone, boy." He comments. I ignore him, even as my knuckles start to bleed through the wrappings. I just keep punching, on and on.

"Boy." Garrett snaps. "Don't ignore me. I don't like it."

Fear creeps over my shoulders like a cloak, spiralling down my spine.

"What do you expect me to do, John?" I ask in a barely controlled voice.

"Stop being a weak, stupid pansy, that's what." Garrett stands up straight and moves to pace around me. His shadow casts over me, and I shiver. Garrett's intimidating - very intimidating - and he can send scare the living daylights out of grown, tough ass men. "You're letting them get to you, Ward. Don't let those weaknesses get to you."

"They're not weaknesses!" I growl, hitting my fists into the bag again. "They're people, John!"

"Really, boy?" Garrett raises an eyebrow. "I think that they're compromising you. And we all know what I did last time you were compromised..."

Images flash through my mind: Skye, lying in the hospital, her face grey from lack of blood, her eyes lifeless and dull. Jemma and Fitz staring at him with shock as he hits the button that will send them plummeting into the ocean, and Skye again, tied to the chair opposite him, her eyes full of apologies as Garrett breaks his wrist clean in two.

"They aren't compromising me." I promise him. "I swear."

"Good. Because I can easily get rid of them for you." Garrett whispers, smiling wickedly.

* * *

"Grant!" Skye's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I blink, finding myself in the gym, leaning my arms against the punch bag. I shake my head, glancing briefly at where Garrett was stood, finding the corner empty.

"You were muttering." She says, peering at me suspiciously. "And I'm pretty sure you just fell asleep in the middle of working out. That's weird. Maybe you're tired." She suggests.

"Maybe." I agree, wiping my brow on the back of my hand. _It was just a dream_. I tell myself firmly. _Garrett's dead, remember. You killed him. You buried him. He can not still be alive._

"Maybe you should take a nap." Skye is still looking worried at me. "You know, if you're tired."

"I'm fine, Skye!" I snap, pushing away from the punch bag. "Just leave me alone!"

I stalk off to the shower, leaving Skye alone, staring at me with hurt painted in her eyes.

* * *

**Don't forget to review, guys! The box is right down there...!**


	9. Chapter 9: Punching

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**So here's another chapter for you, as a thank you for all those lovely reviews! Keep them coming!**

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* * *

_**Ward**_

I head to the shower room and start to get undressed, turning the shower on as I do so. I've only managed to shrug off my shirt when I hear a noise.

"You're a failure." Garrett's voice hisses down my ear. I jump, turning around to see the older man standing there.

"Get out of my head, John." I tell him tiredly.

"Why should I?" Garrett arches an eyebrow. "I have a right to be here. You killed me, remember?"

"You tried to kill Skye!" I growl at him. "I had no choice!"

"This is like with that damned dog all over again." Garrett sighs. "Get over it, boy! They are weaknesses. They compromise you."

I remain motionless, not responding.

"I thought I taught you better than this." Garrett continues. "Didn't I? Don't tell me that you are trying to disappoint me, Ward."

"I'm not." My voice sounds pathetic, even to my ears.

"Then take care of it for me, boy." Garrett tells me. "Because you wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?"

A loud crash brings me back to the present. I stare uncomprehendingly at my bleeding hand and then I glance up at the huge crack in the wall. The water from the shower soaks me to the skin as I stare at the crack I made in the wall.

_What the hell is happening to me?_

* * *

_**Skye**_

"Grant?" I ask tentatively, approaching Grant slowly. He's standing there in his jeans, blinking as if he doesn't understand what he's doing, the shower water hitting him. There's a massive crack in the wall, and I notice his hand is bleeding. Did he punch the wall?

I step next to him, letting the water hit me as I slowly get him to look at me.

"Sorry, I hit the wall." He says finally. The water spurts all over us, freezing cold, but I don't mind. All I want is to understand what happened with Grant.

"It's okay." I say softly, leaning up and turning the shower off. My clothes are soaking wet, like his jeans, my hair scraggly and wet. _This is going to take some explaining_, I think. Water slowly trickles from the crack in the wall. "Grant, can you tell me why you hit the wall?"

"I got angry." He admits.

"Okay." I murmur, going on my tip toes and brushing my lips against his. He grabs the back of my head with his uninjured hand and deepens the kiss. After a moment, I pull away.

"Let's go and get you dry, okay? Then we'll see Jemma abut that hand." I tell him, looking into his confused brown eyes.

"Okay." He agrees, letting me lead him out of the room.

* * *

"So he punched the wall?" Coulson asks me. I nod. We're standing in his office, where I'm telling him about what I witnessed earlier.

"He was muttering to himself beforehand. I don't even think he noticed I came in the room." I tell him, twisting my hands together worriedly.

"Something like this happened in the training room the other day, actually. He fell asleep against the punch bag, and totally flipped out on me."

"Do you think killing Garrett affected him more than he's letting on?" Coulson asks, frowning.

"I think so." I nod. "I think we should monitor him closely, Coulson. Just in case."

"Noted. I'll get right on it, but Skye?" Coulson's voice stops me from training around and leaving. That, and his grave expression. "If he becomes...unpredictable, I'll have to put him in a cell. Understood?"

"Perfectly." I back out of the room.

_Please, just get better_. I think desperately as I head towards my bunk. Although he was the enemy, I've realised that maybe Grant was just misguided. Manipulated and twisted by Garrett's mind control games. So maybe, I can change him into his own man.

* * *

**Up next: Grant has a** **nightmare, and Skye realises just how deep his pain goes.**

**Tell me what you thought in that little box down there. Review, please?**


	10. Chapter 10: Dreaming

**So, this chapter is mainly about Skye, but don't worry: there will be a Grant nightmare scene soon. **

**Thanks again for all the favourites, follows and reviews. Every time I see a new notification, I get inspired!**

**Enjoy, and please tell me what you think in a review. I love seeing them!**

* * *

_**Skye**_

I decide to sleep with Grant that night.

Not in a sexual way, of course (I'm not that ready), but in a normal way. So I can comfort him if he needs it, and so I can let him comfort me.

Because my dreams have quickly became nightmares.

Grant doesn't comment when I slip into bed beside him, just moves over so I can have more room. I curl up next to him, inhaling his scent, and close my eyes, willing for his presence to make it all go away.

Unfortunately for me, life has other plans.

* * *

I'm tied to the chair again. I can't move my hands. Garrett prowls around me like a hungry lion, and I'm his prey. I swallow, hating the feeling of powerlessness. He smiles crookedly.

"Hello, Skye." He says softly, one hand cupping my face. I try to flinch away, but the bindings hold me tight.

"All you had to was hack that damn file." Garrett hisses down my neck, his breath warm against my neck. It makes me think that I'm in the pits of hell. I squirm uncomfortably. "But you couldn't do that, could you?"

He walks around me again, his eyes enraged. I swallow back my fear, clamping my lips down tightly so I don't whimper.

He slaps me, hard, across the face. My cheek burns, but I still mange to keep my head held up high.

"You are an insolent girl." He tells me. "No one will ever care for you."

"Coulson-" I start, but Garrett cuts me off.

"You're a pity case, girl. He likes to fix those who are broken, remember?" Garrett grins nastily.

"Grant-" I try again, but again he interrupts me.

"That pathetic boy? Before I met him, he was just a weak kid, quivering in fear from his older brother's beatings. And now..." He chuckles evilly. "Well, when I was finished with him, he turned into the perfect solider. And all it took was 5 years of him being alone in the Wyoming woods!" Garrett smiles smugly.

"I hate you." I tell Garrett with absolute certainty. "And I'm glad you're dead."

"Sure you are now, because you're all over my boy Ward. But what happens after you realise that that boy isn't meant to be mended. Before you realise he's a lost cause, 'cause he was broken before he even met me, girl. Trust me on this: Grant Ward is broken beyond repair." Garrett laughs again.

"I'll never give up on him." I inform Garrett as I struggle against my bindings. He grins wickedly again, walking up close to me.

"You should." He says - no, _whispers_. "You really should."

* * *

I wake up with a start, in a cold sweat. I glance down at Grant and see him, remarkably, still asleep. Quietly, so I don't wake him, I take a full of water from the glass by his bedside and lie back down. But my eyes stay wide open.

Not because I'm scared of dreaming again (well, I am, but ignore that for the moment).

Because I just realised what Garrett said to me.

_And all it took was 5 years of him being alone in the Wyoming woods!_ His words echo in my mind.

I was just dreaming about Garrett, I try to convince myself, while a little voice in my head perks up and tells me:

_How could of that been a dream, Skye? Because last time I checked, you had no idea that Ward was apparently left alone in the_ _woods for_ _5_ _years. That's new news to you._

_So how did you 'dream' this new information that you had no way of knowing?_


	11. Chapter 11: Explaining

**So, guys, this is a short update, so I'm really sorry about that! I've gotten a slight writers block on this story, although I do have an idea of where it's going. So just stick with it!**

**This will be my last update until after Christmas, though, but I will be posting a Christmas themed post on my one shot collection _Saving _on Christmas eve, so check that out if you want! (It will be chapter 10).**

**Anyway, thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews so far! Maybe you lovely people could write a review telling me what you thought of this post? **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

_**Ward**_

I start to clean out a gun, systematically tearing it to pieces, cleaning each part meticulously, and then constructing it back up again. I do this on repeat for about 5 times before I hear a clearing of a throat. I glance up, frowning, slightly annoyed with the interruption.

Fitz stands there.

I nearly drop the gun in shock. Leo Fitz. I haven't seen the man since I tried to, you know, _kill him._

"Hey." I say, awkwardly. I move to get up, to leave the room, but Fitz's words stop me in my tracks.

"That was real, then." He says softly.

"What?" I ask, confusedly. Fitz raises his bright blue eyes to meet mine.

"You always used to clean and re-reassemble guns when ever you were feeling restless, before you be-betrayed us." Fitz explains, stuttering ever so slightly. "So you didn't fake that bit of your personality?"

"No." I keep my voice even, although I'm trembling inside about seeing Fitz. But I knew this day would come, that I would have to talk to him. "Not everything I did was faked."

"But most of it was, I'll bet." Fitz mutters darkly.

"I'm not going to say sorry." I blurt out suddenly. The younger man glances at me, his eyes questioning what I mean.

"For chucking you out into the ocean in that med pod." I continue, curling my hands into fists, not because I want to hurt him, but to stop myself from bolting. I owe Fitz an explanation, so I'm going to give it to him. "It was the best option, considering my actual choices. I could either shoot you in the head, or hope that someone would find you in the ocean. If I chose nothing, Garrett would have ordered someone else to do it for me." I take a breath. "But I _am_ sorry about your brain injury."

"It's not that bad." Fitz tries to smile. "It just stops me from get-ting my words right."

"Fitz, you can blame me if you want. Heck, if you want to punch me, I'll let you." I tell him. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I just hope you can understand why I did what I did someday."

Fitz nods, a jerky movement.

"Maybe I will." He murmurs as I get up, unchallenged, and walk out of the room.

.

Outside the lab, I take a few shallow breaths, feeling my heart beat relentlessly.

"You should of killed him when you had the chance." An all too familiar voice tells me.

"Go to hell, John." I sigh, closing my eyes for a second before I walk away, maybe to find Skye to tell her about the encounter with Fitz.

* * *

**_Skye_**

"May, have you ever had dreams?" I ask the older woman as we make sandwiches together in the kitchen. May shoots me a weird look.

"Of course I have, Skye, everyone does." She points out scathingly.

"No, like dreams that tell you something." I start again hesitantly.

"Like prophetic dreams?" May frowns, not understanding what I'm meaning. I sigh, buttering up a slice of bread. She's not going to understand, because if I say I had a dream that told me something I didn't know, she's going to think I've lost my mind. She's going to think that this is how the GH-235 is affecting me. Not like Coulson, who drew repetitively, but making me lose my mind instead. So instead of trying to get the woman to understand me, I just sigh, shake my head and tell her it doesn't matter anymore.

"Well, if you're certain..." May gives me an uncertain look, but doesn't press the issue further.

_Maybe I'll tell Grant..._I think to myself in my head._ Check on this piece of information the dream gave me. Yeah, that's what I'll do._

* * *

**Up next (probably): Grant has a nightmare, and Skye comforts him...and then asks about the woods!**

**Have a nice Christmas, all of you!**

**Review, maybe?**


	12. Chapter 12: Bruising

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, as a late Christmas present, and I hope you like it!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**13 years ago, Wyoming, *the woods***_

_**Ward**_

Garrett's fist hits into my stomach, and I try not to show how much it hurts me.

"See, at the S.H.I.E.L.D Academy, they're going to teach you how to fight." Garrett, my mentor and only human contact point in this world (my world being the woods I now lived in), tells me, dusting off his knuckles. "So you have to be stronger to learn, and so you get to the top of your class quicker. So you can get on field assignments, and then you can get around to fulfilling your true purpose in S.H.I.E.L.D. What is that?" He questions me.

"Serving HYDRA, sir." I respond quickly. Christian never did anything good for me, but his relentless abuse has at least made me used to getting hit, perfect for Garrett's training regime.

"Now, you want to become a specialist, boy. So that means you have to be the best, so you have to practise. Got it?"

"Understood, sir."

"Now, let's see how strong you've gotten in these last 3 months since I visited." Garrett growls, motioning that I join him in the clearing. My heart sinking as I prepare to get the shit kicked out of me, I get ready to at least break Garrett's nose.

Garrett leaves me 3 hours later, and I quickly deal with the cuts and scrapes he left on my body. Luckily, none of my bones were broken this time, so I can prepare for winter, which is fast approaching.

Not for the first time as I whistle for Buddy, my dog, to come back, I wonder why Garrett wants me. I don't even truly understand what HYDRA is, and what it wants as an organisation, but I'm not stupid enough to ask Garrett why I have to join.

But I don't think I care enough anymore to wonder.

* * *

_**Skye**_

"What?" I ask groggily as I seemingly wake up - to find myself back in that room again, tied up. Just like last time.

"Really? I'm dreaming this again?" I roll my eyes. Garrett steps out of the shadows, a malicious smile in his lips. I try not to shudder in horror.

"You figured it out, yet, sweetheart?" He asks me, walking around me in a slow circle.

"You. Are. A. Dream." I tell him.

"But I'm not, am I, sweetheart?" Garrett chuckles.

"Unless you lied!" I point out.

"Ask him, then. The broken boy you think you can still save." Garrett leans up against the wall, his hands tucked casually into his pockets.

"I might!" I rage back, my fingers gripping the armrests tightly.

"I've seen who that boy really is." Garrett informs me. Although is it really Garrett? 'Cause maybe, if this isn't just a dream, maybe it's something taking his form. Somehow, this thought does not comfort me, instead chilling me to the bone. "And I know that there is no way back for him."

"We'll see." I shoot back.

"You are feisty, aren't you." The man chuckles. "Like a tiger, maybe."

"You're a psychopath." I inform him loftily. Garrett's hand whizzes out of nowhere and he slaps me hard, his other hand gripping my shoulder hard. I gasp out in pain, my cheek smarting. Garrett's strong fingers grip into my flesh tightly, bruising it (if this wasn't a dream. But then again, that slap _hurt_!).

"You're just a stupid little girl who needs to be taught a lesson!" Garrett hisses right in my face, spittle flying everywhere.

* * *

When I wake up, I'm gasping for breath. I climb out of bed and head to the bathroom, splashing my face with cold water.

_Ow_. I frown, as my shoulder twinges. The one _Garrett_ gripped.

Slowly, dread filling me, I pull down my top to expose my shoulder.

And there, imprinted into my pale white skin, is the purple bruise shape of four finger tips, dug deep into my flesh.

* * *

**Up Next (really, this time): Skye tries to deal with her discovery. Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13: Confronting

**Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites, they make my day!**

**Enjoy, and please review!**

* * *

_**Skye**_

"Can I ask you something?" I blurt out suddenly, wiping my hands down nervously on my jeans. Jemma looks up from her work and smiles hesitantly.

"Anything, Skye. You know that." She says.

"Is there any kind of tech that, I don't know, could make a dream real?" I shift in my seat. I'm in the lab, hanging out with Jemma as I try and figure out exactly what my dream means. And what is causing them, because there is no doubt in my mind that they are real. Garrett bruised me in real life! It has to be real.

But how? Garrett's dead, remember? So what's happening to me?

So I went to the only person I could think off who might have the answers. Jemma Simmons.

"Real? Real how?" Jemma frowns, thinking. I can almost hear the cogs and gears turning in her head.

"Like if they could tell you things you don't know, and leave physical marks on your real body." I say tentatively. "Hypothetically, of course."

"Of course." Jemma nods, chewing in her lower lip as she considers her answer. "I suppose an 0-8-4 could. Or some alien tech. Actually, back in the original S.H.I.E.L.D, there was a piece of alien teach that made dreams strangely realistic. In the 48 hours Fitz and I had it, he broke his foot in two places from a dream of tripping up, and I had a dozen scratches from a dreamt cat fight." She sounds amused by the memory.

"Is that tech here?" I ask, trying to keep the eagerness out of my voice. Maybe this is all because of that! Maybe this isn't as serious as I thought! Maybe-

"No, it's not here." Jemma shakes her head. "Actually, S.H.I.E.L.D destroyed it. Didn't like what it could do. Why'd you ask, anyway, Skye?"

"Er, I was curious." I lie quickly and smoothly. "I mean, we're an organisation who literally has fought aliens. Can't a girl be curious about the possibilities of tech out there?"

"Oh, of course!" Jemma smiles. "Glad I could help you, Skye."

_Except you didn't._ I think darkly. _So what the hell is going on inside my head?_

"Oh, Skye?" Her hesitant voice asks, breaking me out of my thoughts. I look up, and see her usually cheerful eyes are worried and nervous.

"Yeah, Jemma?"

"Ward." That one word chills the air around me. Why's she asking about Grant?

"He bumped into Fitz the other day, and he didn't ask for Fitz's forgiveness." Jemma continues. "And I just wanted to ask you why you forgave him. After all, he made you suffer the most."

"I did hate him, for a long time." I admit, my hair falling in a soft curtain on either side of my face. "But after being in that room with him, seeing him get injured for me...I realised that Garrett didn't appreciate him, just used him."

"So?" Jemma's voice borders on spiteful. I try to ignore her tone, even as my hands ball up into fists.

"Grant didn't know where he belonged, and Garrett played that. But when he tried to defy Garrett - for me - I realised that he did have a place to belong. With me, because I still wanted him. I still loved him." I glance into her eyes. "And he shot Garrett so I would be safe. Jemma, he's done a lot of shitty things. But he's willing to change, and really hasn't every S.H.I.E.L.D specialist done some terrible things?" I finish.

"Yeah, but he's not S.H.I.E.L.D, Skye. He's HYDRA." Jemma says quietly. Wordlessly, my whole body angry with her, I get up and walk out of Jemma's lab, unable to believe that she would stoop that low.

"I thought you were better than that, Jemma Simmons. I really did." I say quietly before walking away.

* * *

**Thoughts? **

**Up next: Finally, the woods confession! (And I promise this time, it's really coming). (Soon).**


	14. Chapter 14: Telling

**Next chapter! And it's also the last one of 2014. Chapter 15 will be coming to you in 2015. The irony, huh? **

**(Chapter 14/2014, chapter 15/2015)**

**Anyway, thanks for all the lovely reviews, follows and favourites so far. Special thanks to beverlie4055, KissMyQuiver, Bebe558 and rebeccaskyeward12 for their reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Ward**_

"Tell me what happened in the woods." Those seven words uttered by Skye manage to fill me with complete and utter dread. But I have been trained as a specialist, so instead of letting my fear of those words show, I simply continue folding the laundry.

"What, is that a movie?" I say calmly, creasing one of my shirts down the middle, tucking the sleeves into the middle. Skye sighs angrily, crossing her arms as she leans against the wall, watching me.

"Grant." She says in a warning tone. "Seriously. What happened to you in the woods?"

"What woods?" I stall for more time. _She can't be talking about those woods. She can't know. She can't._

"The woods Garrett abandoned you in. For 5 years." Skye says impatiently. My folding stills for only a brief second. _How the hell does she know about the woods?_ "Come on, Grant, I need you to tell me. I need to know that I'm not going crazy." The last bit is whispered, and I wonder what she means. But I shake off, just like I try to do with the familiar itchiness creeping over my skin, just like it always happens whenever anyone mentions those 5 hellish years spent..._there_.

"Skye, I _can't_." It comes out of me as a low, agonised whisper. "I can't think about...that."

"Okay, but you were left there?" Skye asks carefully. I nod once, keeping my eyes focused on my laundry as I start to fold my socks.

"For five years?" She asks next, still treading lightly. I nod again, trying not to think about it. The cold, the rain, the hunger, _Buddy_... I snap myself out of it quickly.

"By Garrett?" Skye has to confirm. My breath catches in my throat at his name. Garrett. Luckily, Skye takes it as a yes. She's silent for a moment as I try and compartmentalise. _Focus, Grant._ I tell myself. _It was in the past. Not now. You don't need to think about it. Compartmentalise._

"Grant?" Skye asks in a tentative voice. "I think I'm going crazy."

Skye

I chew on my bottom lip nervously as I wait for a response. Having just told Grant about my dreams, I'm scared he'll reject me. Say I'm making up lies, and that maybe the GH-325 is making my brain go loopy. He's silent for a very long time, so long I think he's really going to call me crazy.

"Grant?" I ask hesitatingly. "Grant, please say something. Anything!"

Even if you say you hate me. I add on in my head quietly.

"Skye, let me look at the bruise." He says in a low voice, turning to face me. His eyes are dark and unreadable. Silently, I reach my hand up to my top and yank it down, exposing the ugly black purple bruise marring my skin. Grant walks over and examines it carefully before placing his hand gently over it, his fingertips resting on the surface lightly as if not to hurt me.

"What are you doing?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Garrett's hands were a similar size to mine." He explains, his voice still quiet. I can't read what he's thinking in his tone. Does he think I'm a liar?

"So?"

"So, Garrett could of made these marks." Grant withdraws his hand. "Or someone with the same hand shape as his."

"You don't think I'm lying, do you?" I blurt out suddenly. Grant turns his dark, unreadable eyes onto me, and I see that they burn with the hot intensity of anger and outrage.

"Why would I think that, Skye? I believe you!" He says, sounding angry that I would doubt him. "Plus, where did did these bruises come from? The invisible man?" His time is scathing.

"So you believe me?" I check his answer. Is Grant on my side? Can I trust him to help me? Grant nods, pulling my body close to his with one gently pull on my arm. My body goes gripping into his, his warmth radiating into mine. I stare up in to his brown eyes.

"Of course, Skye." He says sincerely. "And whatever this is, I promise I'll help you through it, however I can."

"Thank you." I tell him, leaning up and kissing him. He kisses me back, and it's soft and sweet and reassuring. I'm not alone in this anymore.

* * *

**Review, please?**

**Up Next: Grant thinks about what these dreams could mean, and then is struck by yet another hallucination. But what does Garrett want Grant to do this time?**


	15. Chapter 15: Killing

**Howdy, people! First chapter of 2015! Yay!**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows. They brightened an overwise dull day!**

**Anyway, on with the story! Enjoy, and please, please leave me a review at the end telling me what you think.**

* * *

_**Ward**_

"You should kill her." Garrett tells me, as he leans casually against the door, effectively trapping me inside the room, so I couldn't escape even if I wanted to. I swallow nervously, of meeting Garrett's dark eyes as I feel Skye sleeping next to me. We're in my room, as she feels safer in my presence. Ironic, considering only a few weeks ago, she would of never believed that's something she'd ever say again. Even though all logic tells me that this is a hallucination, that it's not real because Garrett is dead, I can't help but let the all to familiar fear of the man creep over me like an unwanted blanket.

"What?" I ask him, dread prickling down my spine. "What are you on about, John?"

"_The girl._" Garrett says impatiently. "You should kill the girl, boy."

"Skye?" I ask stupidly. "Why?"

"Well, she already knows about the woods." Garrett laughs dryly. "How long do you think she'll really want to stay on your side?" Garrett raises an eyebrow. "She'd have to be crazy...but, _wait_." He pauses, grinning evilly. "She is, isn't she?"

"Skye's not crazy!" I protest angrily, my hands balling up into fists. "She's not!" I insist.

"Really, boy?" His eyebrow stays arched. "She's dreaming about impossible things. I'd say that _screams_ crazy."

"She's not." I repeat again, although my voice is a lot less certain now than it was a few moments ago.

"So I'd kill her." Garrett returns to his earlier point. "Before she leaves you all alone, just like your mommy and daddy did." His voice is mocking.

"Shut up!" I yell at him. Skye stirs at my voice, so I lower it hastily, not wanting to wake her up. Garrett is my problem, not hers.

"Everyone leaves you, Grant." Garrett's use of my first name startles me. He rarely uses it, only when he's really, _really_ pissed off at me. "Even me, remember?"

.

"I wanted you to go." I say, my voice bordering on pitiful.

"Did you?" Garrett shakes his head. "So why am I still here? You just don't want to be alone, and you know that the girl's going to leave you, and then I'll be the only one left, because I've already seen you at your worst. There's nothing you could could do to surprise me now."

"I..." I can't think of anything to say. I glance down at Skye sleeping next to me.

_Maybe he's right..._ I think to myself. _Maybe I should kill her. Garrett's right when he says she'll leave me eventually, when she realises just how messed up you really are. So if I kill her now, at least I'll always remember Skye being with me instead of away._

"Go on, boy." Garrett's low voice urges. "Go on. She'll only leave you, like all the rest."

I swallow drily, string at Skye's sleeping face. Right now she's defenceless. I could kill her without her ever waking up to stop me.

Slowly, my hand reaches out for my gun. I notice it's trembling. _Why is it trembling?_

My fingers close around the gun, and I bring it up slowly, my hand still shaking. The gun shudders in my uneasy hand as I aim it at Skye's head, my finger an inch away from the trigger.

There's a click as I flick the safety off.

.

"Go on, boy." Garrett's eyes turn as wide as dishes as he practically drools in anticipation.

Do I do what Garrett wants?

Do I pull this trigger?

Do I shoot Skye?

Do I?

.

My finger rests on the trigger. I breathe unevenly, my heart half pounding out of my chest.

_I don't want her to leave me. But is this what I should do?_

"Do it!" Urges Garrett excitedly. "Do it!"

.

I squeeze my eyes shut, and then open them back up again.

And then...my finger presses down on the trigger and there's a huge, deafening bang.

.

Then..._silence_.

Complete and utter silence.

* * *

**The End!**

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**...**

**Only joking! I'll be back in a few more days. In the meantime, thoughts?**


	16. Chapter 16: Trusting

**Guys, I am blown away by the reviews you guys left! Seriously, they made my day. You guys are amazing!**

**Unfortunately for you guys, I'm going to be a little evil, and this chapter is about Coulson and May before the shot.**

_(And to the guest reviewer 'leya', thanks so much for that review! It made me so happy to hear that you like Captured so much)._

**Enjoy! And please leave a review!**

* * *

_(May and Coulson before the shot)_

_**Coulson**_

"Do you trust him?" May asks me, her dark eyes glancing up at me as we watch Skye slip into Ward's room, as she has been doing for the last few nights.

May and I start to walk towards my office, and I sigh.

"I don't know." I admit. "Part of me want to rip Skye away from him, hide her away from him in a tower or something, but I know that if I do that, she'll hate me forever."

"She will." May agrees. "But she's not Rapunzel, Phil. think we'll just have to monitor the situation."

We get to my office and I take a seat behind the desk. May leans up against the door, her hands tucked behind her. I rub a hand over my eyes. I'm tired, bone tired, mainly because I haven't been able to sleep ever since Skye was captured. And even though she's back where she belongs, I can't help but wonder about Ward. Is he really okay after shooting his mentor? Or is he just pretending to fine, when really he's not? It's hard to tell, since his training benefits him here. As a specialist, he's been trained to conceal how he's feeling, and I don't know how I can convince him to share those emotions. Maybe I could ask Skye, but I would prefer for Ward to trust me as well.

"Phil." May interrupts my heavy train of thought. "I think Skye is a little...well, I don't know what she is, but I do know that she asked me if I'd ever had dreams that came true."

"So?" I raise one eyebrow. "Melinda, once I had a dream about a sausage that wore a tutu. Next day, Barton gave me a sausage with a tutu on it. What's your point?"

"What if the GH-325 is affecting her?" May asks quietly. I freeze.

The GH-325 formula. May and I know that with Garrett, it drove him insane, according to what Ward told us. That apparently he was raving mad - madder than usual, he meant. May and I are still anxiously awaiting the response in Skye: because the formula makes me draw obsessively, but we are yet to see any reaction in Skye. Maybe that is it?

"May, we have to find out more." I say urgently. May nods solemnly.

"We have to tell her about you." May points out. I swallow, nervously, before nodding.

"We'll have to. We need to find out what that formula does to us." My fist slams into the desk in front of me. "Why didn't Fury listen to me? Why did he give me the GH-325?"

"Calm down, Phil." May's sharp voice brings me out of my anger. "Don't question things we have no control over. Keep focused on what we can do something about: Skye."

"You're right." I take a few deep calming breaths. May's dark, unreadable eyes gaze at me calmly. "First thing tomorrow, we bring her in on it. We tell her the morning."

And then we hear the gunshot.

And everything goes silent.

* * *

***cue evil laugh***

**The next chapter will be coming soon, I promise!**


	17. Chapter 17: Angering

**I'm back, guys, with the new chapter! It's been a long three days. **

**Thanks for all the reviews so far guys! They are so nice to read! :)**

**(Also, thanks for the follows and favourites).**

**Originally, I was going to be a little bit meaner to you Gus and tell yo about Fitzsimmons before the shot, but then I justcouldn't leave you guys in more suspense. And then this just spilled out onto the page.**

**So, I hope you enjoy it, and please review!**

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_(Skye's dream before the shot)_

**_Skye_**

"This again?" I groan theatrically when I wake up tied to the chair in that room again, even as my heart beats fast. To be honest, these dreams are starting to scare me. What are they? Why can the injuries I sustain here hurt me in real life? What happens if I die here? Will I die in real life? The questions circle around my head like a never ending rollercoaster.

"Yes, this again." Garret says, sounding amused. He steps out if the shadows, stroking the barrel of a gun absentmindedly with his hand. My blood runs cold at the sight of it. Unlike last time, when we were really in the room, no one's going to help me. Grant's not here, May's not here. It's only me, Garrett and his new friend the gun.

"It's getting tiring, isn't it, Skye?" His lips crack open into a horrific smile. "I'm almost getting sick of your beautiful face."

"Maybe you should stop smiling." I suggest, choosing to ignore his 'beautiful face' comment. "It really doesn't suit you."

Garrett's eyes harden.

"Shut up, girl!" He raises his voice, and I can't help myself. I pull away from him, shoving myself further back into my chair.

Garrett's eyes sparkle evilly.

"Little Skye's scared of me, isn't she?" His voice is horrible and gloating, like he's some sort of terrible clown. "Oh, you're _scared_ of _me_!"

"You're a mad man waving around a gun." I retort. "What you think I'm going to be feeling? Ecstatic?"

Garrett backhands me across my face harshly. My head snaps around with a sharp crack, and I keep my eyes focused on the floor to the side for a moment as I breathe heavily, blood rushing to my cheek.

Finally, I bring my head back up to face him, my eyes burning with a lot more bravado than I'm actually feeling.

"Have you considered taking anger management classes?" I ask him, laying on a serious tone. "Because I think you could really benefit from them."

"You think you're so clever, don't you." Garrett hisses, as he prowls around me. He trails the nozzle of the gun over my shoulders, and I bite on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from reacting to the cold metal. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth as I bite down too hard. "Do you know why Ward was the perfect candidate for my solider?" He asks, changing the subject suddenly. I keep the mouthful of blood in my mouth, ready for ejection. "He was already weak. Something about his brother, and a well, he told me once. I think the boy died, or something." Garrett's tone is dismissive. "But it made him weak. He was easy to mould. He was pathetic." Garrett leans down to my face as breathes the last word right into my face. I use this opportunity to eject the mouthful of blood by spitting it all over his face. Garrett blinks, and then uses his sleeve to wide away most of the blood.

"Grant is a human being! You can't just treat people like that!" I yell at him. "You manipulated him!"

Garrett smiles, almost beautifully.

"Yeah, I guess I did." He says, sounding proud. "But without me, that kid would off just wasted away in juvie. I gave him a chance to live!"

"You took away his chance to live!" I shoot right back.

"And you don't think you'll do the same thing?" Garrett raises one eyebrow. I fall silent. "You, Coulson... I bet you're making him do things you think he wants to do. Maybe he doesn't want to be S.H.I.E.L.D anymore. Maybe you're the one taking away his free will."

"Go to hell." Is my only response. Garrett laughs drily at me.

"You're just a kid at the moment, girl." He tells me, and I hear the safety on the gun click off. My blood freezes in my veins.

_Ohgodohgodohgod...!_

"One day, you could even be as good at controlling people as me." He chuckles.

"I will never be like you." I spit at him.

"What if you already are?" Garrett points out, and then he points the gun at me and his finger presses down on the trigger without one more hesitation.

* * *

**... ;)**

**You'll have to wait until the next chapter to discover Skye's fate. And the, I promise, there won't be that many dramactic cliffhangers for a while.**


	18. Chapter 18: Failing

**I'm back, guys!**

**So, it's been a few more days than I planned before this next update, but I just got my new laptop, which is awesome. So I had to set that up, which took _forever_. And then I got a little stuck on this chapter: I drafted it out 5 times. And then this came to me, at 1.30 am in the morning! So I hope you guys like it.**

**One more note: I HAVE REACHED OVER A HHUNDRED FOLLOWERS! Seriously, that has made me the happiest person ever, since this is the first fic to reach 100 followers. And this was only going to be a 5 part fic!**

**Thank you ever so much for your support, and I hope you like this chapter!**

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_**(Just in case: some mentions of violence in this chapter.)**_

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**Chapter Eighteen: Failing**

_**(Flashback. Ward is 22-ish, and is at the SHIELD Academy).**_

_**Grant**_

Grant Ward was not having a good day.

First of all, he had overslept, meaning that he had been late to roll call, resulting in 50 laps around the field. Then he had gotten his test back from his Risk Assessment class and found out he got a less that perfect grade. And finally, something had pissed off John Garrett, his mentor and the only one who knew his true intentions among SHIELD: because his true intentions were Garrett's intentions.

"Sir, permission to ask what's wrong?" Grant asks carefully. They're off campus, in some deserted field some miles away, the only sounds to be heard are the calls of birds. Garrett paces up and down the grassy stretch, muttering foul curses. Garrett glances up as Ward speaks, and he hawks a huge glob of spit onto the floor. The older man's eyes glint dangerously as he straightens up.

"What's wrong, boy? What's fucking wrong?" He swears. "You fucking _idiot._ What's wrong is that you _failed_ your first field assignment!" Garrett jabs him viciously in the chest. Grant keeps himself straight, knowing it will only annoy Garrett if he takes a step backwards.

Grant frowns, trying to recall the assignment Garrett's talking about. The field assignment he did a few weeks ago comes to mind suddenly.

"But I did everything perfectly!" Grant protests without thinking. "Everything you said, I did! What did I do wrong?"

"You failed to communicate with your team!" Garrett yells, right in his face. Grant tries not to flinch away as spittle flies from the other man's mouth. "You didn't coordinate with your teammates and instead acted on your own, without consent from your other team mates."

"But I could see how to finish the mission quickly." Grant knows he's being stupid, arguing back against Garrett even though he knows he's right, and he's being so fucking stupid -

Grant's thoughts cut off suddenly as Garrett punches him squarely in the jaw.

Grant reels backwards, holding his jaw. He spits out a mouthful of blood - he bit his inside of his cheek, for fuck's sake - and stares at Garrett angrily.

"What the _fuck,_ John?" He hisses, gritting his teeth through the pain. "How the hell am I going to explain this, huh?"

"You'll think of something." Garrett's tone is dismissive. "But you fucking failed me, boy." His tone turns nastier, and Grant can't help but feel a whisper of fear across his back. The last time he saw that look, Garrett broke 5 of his ribs.

"I'll try harder next time." Grant whispers as Garrett looms over him. The older man grabs Grant's hand, and Grant braces himself for what's to come, which is surely a broken hand, and how the hell he's going to explain that, he has no idea, and it's going to hurt, it's going to hurt, _it's going to hurt-_

_._

"Actually, I have a better idea." Garrett's eyes narrow evilly. Dread casts a shadow over Grant's soul. Garrett hands Grant back his hand. Grant stares at his mentor, uncomprehendingly.

"You break it." He commands. Grant's eye flash wide open.

"What?" He has to ask. Is Garrett being serious?

"You heard me. Break your fingers." Garrett crosses his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. "One by one, for failing me. So you'll know better next time."

Slowly, his breath hitching in his throat, Grant holds his index finger with his other hand carefully. He grabs it and twists it back without looking, and then he hears the resounding crack as it breaks. Grant bites his lip to stop himself from crying out. Although he's had broken fingers before, usually, they were just from being stepped on. Not this. Not one by one.

But Grant owes Garrett everything. So, keeping his dark eyes on Garrett's darker ones, he breaks the next finger, and the next and the next and the next, without a single pause in his actions. By the end, his hand kills, but Garrett's giving him a huge smile.

"Good boy." He clamps him on the back. "Now, let's go get you sorted out. After that 'fall' you just had."

* * *

_**Coulson**_

"He's just _sitting_ there." I remark coolly to May, a few days after that night, as I watch Ward on the monitors as he sits in Vault D, silently.

"According to Skye, he wouldn't shoot her." May says quietly. "But he was the only one in the room, he had the gun, and he fired it."

I think back to that night. We had heard the gunshot, ran in and May had shot her ICER at Ward. Although he could of avoided it, he didn't. I had rushed Skye to Simmons, who had operated to get the bullet out of her. Because right below her shoulder, someone had shot her. Luckily she wasn't fatally hurt, but Simmons had discovered a bruise on her other shoulder that matched Ward's hand size. So what had been happening behind closed doors for Ward to shoot her like that? What had I let go on? How could of I been so blind to let this happen, right under my nose?

_Some sort of Director I am._ I berate myself bitterly._ I let Skye - our Skye! - get shot!_

"It's my fault." I shake my head, turning away from the screen. "I trusted him, I let him back on my team! But he betrayed us. He was playing us the whole time."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Phil." May pats my shoulder comfortingly before her dark eyes narrow, going dark and steely. "But I'm going down there to have a little word with Ward for myself. And then we'll see exactly why he played us." May flashes me an evil grin. "Because I'll torture it out of him if I have to."

She goes to walk off, but I catch her wrist.

"Melinda." I say quietly. "Don't hurt him anymore than needs be."

"Why not?" May whirls around angrily. "He tried to kill Skye, Phil. He played her emotions - again - and tricked this whole team - again. So tell me the hell why I shouldn't hurt him until he's begging for death?"

"Because then," I murmur. "There would be nothing left for me to do."

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**First off, if Coulson and May sound a little evil in that last bit, it's only because they're upset about Skye being shot. **

**Up Next: May interrogates Ward!**

**And please review! I love hearing what you guys think!**


	19. Chapter 19: Waking

**Howdy, all! Thank you so much for all your ssupport, and a special thanks to _Bemzi_, that review was super kind! :) **

**(Thanks to the 3 guest reviewers! I'm glad that the 2nd guest enjoyed the flashback scene, and yes, it was pretty creepy, wasn't it!)**

**Anyway, enjoy this next chapter, and please leave a review at the end. I love hearing what you guys think!**

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**Chapter Nineteen: Waking**

**_Skye_**

When I wake up for the third time that day, I almost feel like punching a wall.

Ever since what I like to call **THE INCIDENT,** I haven't been able to sleep out of fear that Garrett might strike. Unfortunately for me, these pain meds Simmons has put me on kind of make me drowsy. But luckily, Garrett hasn't shown up yet.

I worry constantly about Grant. Coulson won't tell me a thing about how he's doing, so I have no idea what's happening to him. All I know I'd that they're blaming him for my shooting, although I know it can't be him because Garrett shot me, and what he does to me comes into real life. But why are they blaming Grant? Because he's an easy scapegoat? Can't they see that he's reformed? He wouldn't ever try and shoot me, no matter what. I know he wouldn't.

Simmons bustles in and gives me a wan smile. We haven't really takes since the last time - when we argued over Grant - so this can be awkward. She gives me another injection, and writes something down on a clipboard. She finishes up quickly, maybe not wanting to be in a room alone with me any longer.

"Jemma, please." I grab her sleeve as she tries to leave. "How is he? Please tell me. I need to know!"

Jemma hesitates, her eyes darting around widely. For a moment, I think she might actually tell me something, anything, but then the moment is lost.

"Sorry, Skye." She mutters and then she half runs out if the room, leaving me alone again.

I sigh. Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?

And that's when I realise the horrible truth. No one's going to tell me because they know that I'm on Grant's side. And they know that if I know what they're doing to him, I'll try and save him myself.

_Well, if no one's going to tell me._ I think to myself, my eyes glancing around in my skull. _Then I'll just have to prove them wrong: not telling me anything does not spare you from the vengeance of Skye!_

* * *

**_Grant_**

I blink my eyes open, finding nothing but darkness in front of me. Quickly, I close my eyes again, and make my breathing regular, as if I'm still sleeping, so I can have a little time to assess my surroundings before whoever has locked me up comes for me. So either May or Coulson, I'd assume.

Underneath my cheek, I can feel a cool, flat surface: maybe a table or something. That leads me to believe that I'm slumped over a table, a fact I deem correct when I become aware of the chair I'm currently sitting on.

I hear the scraping of a chair in front of me, and dread fills my veins in place of blood.

The interrogation has begun.

I realise that pretending to be still asleep is no use, so I raise my head up and open my eyes. May sits across from me, her arms crossed and a haughty expression on her face. There is a faint, dim source of lighting, so it casts ominous shadows over her face, cloaking her emotions and making her look even more sinister.

"Hello, Melinda." I say, my attempt at a smile coming off as mangled. May glares at me, and it's then I remember about Skye. Did I shoot her? I think I might of.

_Oh, shit. May's going to kill me_. I think to myself. _Before I get to find out what happened to Skye!_

"Don't call me Melinda, Ward." She says in a low, dangerous voice.

"Sorry." I apologise instinctively. May gets to her feet, the chair screeching back against the floor loudly, hurting my ears.

I expect her to ask me why did I do it? Why did I shoot Skye?

_(I can't of, please say I didn't, if I killed her...)_

But instead she just strides over to me, her pace languid, and her delicate fingers curl into a fist. I flinch before it hits me, and then it does, slamming into my jaw hard. My head snaps around hard, and stars bounce around my vision. I blink, and then turn my head to face May again.

"May-" I try, but May do want five me a chance to say anything. Instead she grabs me by the collar and drags me closer to her.

"How could you play us twice, Ward?" She spits in my face. "We trusted you - I trusted you - and this is how you repay me? By shooting Skye?" Her punches rain down on me, until I can't think through the pain. Somehow my chair's been pushed back from the table and she's managed to kick me squarely in the stomach.

Skye...

Skye...

Skye...

What if I killed her?

What if Garrett got me to kill her?

What if I killed Skye?

I look up at May, my arms wrapped around my chest loosely.

"Do what you want, May." I tell her, finally defeated. "I don't care anymore."

May's face twists into something evil.

"Well, that doesn't work for me." Her mouth hovers next to my ear. "I'd prefer it if you cared, but I'm not going to make you. I can still destroy you, whether you care or not." She pauses. "This is for shooting our Skye."

I've finally woken up.

This is life.

I'm always destined to hurt those I care about... and then get the punishment I deserve.

So I close my eyes, and I let May hit me. It's the only thing I deserve after what I did to Skye.

"Boy, you might finally be right about something." Garrett chuckles from the corner of the room, his arms crossed. "It only took 15 years to convince you that you are really worthless. Weak." Garrett smiles. "Pathetic little Grant Ward."

"Pathetic little Grant Ward." I repeat, my murmured voice shaping the words perfectly. "Pathetic, weak and worthless little Grant Ward."


	20. Chapter 20: Prentending

**This is a flashback chapter, and I'm pretty happy with it! It jumps around in the timing of the flashbacks, but I'm sure you guys will understand it. If it comes off as creepy, I will tell you that I was listening to some pretty weird songs while writing it. So, I blame that.**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews, follows and favourites! You guys are amazing!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Twenty: Pretending**

_**Grant**_

Grant Ward is an expert at pretending.

From the staircase, he glances down at the scene unfolding in front of him: both his mother and father have drunk too much, and are now attempting to kill the other.

Grant gets to his feet and turns around. Slowly, he starts to walk up the stairs, hearing the familiar scream from his mother meaning his father's hit her across her face. 'To shut her fucking loud mouth up' his father would claim.

He hears his father yell his mother stabs the broken wine bottle into his father's shoulder. He hears the slam of a body to the ground as the next hit sends his mother to the floor. He heads to his room, ignoring the rest of the sounds coming from downstairs.

This is Grant Ward's life. A huge play. In the day they pretend to be the perfect family, the Ward's: who everyone wants to be! But at night... these walls hide the hits, the kicks, the blood, the hurt that is delivered every night.

He's one of the actors in this play. Pretending to be the perfect child, just like his brother's, even as he buttons up his shirt collar all the way to hide the bruises shaped suspiciously like his older brother's fingers around his neck, even as he steals some of the pills from his mother's bedroom. The pills are labeled with some scientific crap that he doesn't understand, but he sees the one word he's looking for.

_Morphine_.

He unscrews the lid and takes a few of the pills, replacing the bottle quickly. The pills are clutched in his hand as he scrambles across the hall to his own bedroom, where he takes the pills dry.

_An actor._ He pulls up his shirt, seeing the light scattering of bruises littering across his ribs. _An actor._ He hopes the morphine kicks in soon, so this pain will go away. _An actor._

Pretending.

* * *

"Do you think someone could pretend to be something they're not?" Fitz asks him one day, as he works over Grant's comms, which have broken. His spine stiffens instinctively.

"What do you mean?" He asks, keeping his voice level.

"Like, you know when people pretend to live some perfect life." Fitz goes on. "When really it's all a lie."

"All a play." Grant murmurs.

"Yeah!" Fitz points a screwdriver at him, not picking up on the older man's sudden spacing out. "That's it! A play."

"I think that it's quite possible that people can pretend." Grant offers suddenly, surprising even himself.

"But why?" Fitz presses. Grant shrugs, staring off into the distance.

"Because everyone wants the perfect life." He murmurs. "Everyone wants to hide the truth."

_But the truth always comes out eventually..._

* * *

"It's all just an act, boy." Garrett tells him. Grant's just got the news that he'll be joining Coulson's team, so he gave Garrett a quick call. "And we all know you're good at pretending, don't we?" The older man chuckles darkly, making Grant's skin crawl.

"Yes sir." He responds. "Just an act. Just a play."

"Exactly." Garrett sounds pleased. "And you can do that for me, boy? You won't fail me, right?" His voice goes sharp, like a serrated knife. One slip, and Grant will get cut.

"Of course, sir. I won't fail you." Grant sounds more confident then he feels. "Have I ever before?"

"No." Garrett admits reluctantly. "But anyway, you know what will happen if you do."

* * *

"You can't let them see what goes down in the kitchen." Christian tells him one day. Grant glances up at his older brother as they sweep all the glass off the floor. He knows Christian's probably high right now, the only reason he's helping Grant is that.

"What do you mean?" Grant asks him, frowning. What else does he have to hide?

"You know." Christian nudges him. "You can't ever tell anyone about what happens down there."

"Okay." Grant nods.

His mother strolls in, a fresh bruise blossoming across her left cheek. Her breath stinks of whiskey.

"Good boys." She mumbles, her pain killers that the doctor prescribed clashing horribly with her alcohol. In this week alone, she's tried to carve up a live rabbit, actually said good night to him and attempted to fly.

She wonders around the room, and then out of the door.

"Will she be okay?" Grant can't help but ask. "She seems a little... loopier than normal."

"Yeah." Christian dismisses Grant's concern for their mother. Grant likes Christian when he's doped up, only slightly. When Christian's a little high, he's nice. But the line between nice Christian and bad Christian is very fine, and it doesn't take much to push him over it. "She'll be fine."

Grant stares after his mother for a moment before dropping his gaze back to glass covered floor.

_Just an actor..._ He thinks to himself. The actors don't write the script. That's the directors: Christian and his parents. Grant's just a doll to be manipulated, tugged into shape by the people who control him. So he seems acceptable in their eyes, and then he'll just live out his life according to how they want him to.

Just a tool.

Just an actor.

Grant has no free will. He has nothing. He _is_ nothing.

He's only a pretender.


	21. Chapter 21: Staring

**Sorry about the delay in updates, I've been distracted by movies! I saw Ex Machina (which you should go see if you're in England) and Kingsman. **

**But anyway, I'm back! **

**(And I watched the preview for AoS. Epic!)**

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**Chapter**** Twenty One: Staring**

**_Grant_**

I stare off into the distance.

May prowls around me, her fist tightening. Her knuckles turn white.

"For god's sake, react!" She explodes as I sit there, just staring. Even Garrett at this point had had enough.

"You're annoying me." He informs me coolly. "Let alone little Melinda May here. How long are you going to keep this all up, boy?"

I just keep still. Pretending. I don't care. Pretending.

"Everyone thinks we were perfect." I murmur. "But they never looked through the curtains."

"What the hell?" May exclaims, sitting back down in her chair. I guess punching someone who doesn't even react isn't doing anything for her. "You shot Skye, Ward. You will pay. This whole act..." She shakes her head, her eyes narrowing. "It's not going to work."

"Act." I repeat, my voice still a confused murmur, even as my lips twitch up into a smile. "It was all just an act."

* * *

Coulson storms in, his eyes flashing angrily. I'm still sat in the chair, my hands bound to the arms tightly, and I'm struck with the irony of the whole situation. I drift in and out of a clear mind, and Garrett smirking at me in the corner isn't helping me at all.

"Weak." He tells me. I nod.

"Weak." I repeat, just as he taught me to. Repeat. Lie. Act. Repeat. Lie. Act. Over and over again.

"Ward. Why did you do it?" Coulson grabs me by the jaw, forcing me to look at him. "I thought you loved her!"

"Calm down, Phil! Am I right?" Garrett grins.

"I do love her." I mumble. "Skye. Skye. Skye."

"Don't you dare say her name!" Coulson's eyes burn with a deep rage. "She trusted you Ward."

"'She trusted you, Ward!'" Garrett imitates in a high, squeaky voice.

"I'm sorry." I whisper. "I didn't want to."

"Pathetic." Garrett looks at me.

"Pathetic." I repeat robotically. Coulson releases me, giving me a confused look.

"Ward..." He starts, his eyebrows tugging in. "Ward, are you talking to me?"

"What?" I blink at him. "Why aren't you hitting me? I hurt Skye." My voice sounds like a lost puppy's, even to my own ears. Pathetic. Weak. Vulnerable.

_What if I killed her?_ The thought occurs to me again. Can I ask Coulson? Will he even tell me?

"Did I kill her?" I have to ask, my voice small.

Coulson looks at me for a long time.

"No." He admits. "You didn't."

"Good." I mutter.

"Bad." Garrett contradicts.

"Good." I repeat, almost insistingly.

"Bad." Garrett frowns.

Coulson stares at me with large eyes.

"May was right." He mutters. "What the hell?"

* * *

**_Skye_**

"So now you want me to help you?" I cross my arms. "After you broke him?"

May and Coulson had came to me 20 minutes before and asked me if I actually though Ward had shot me. I had hesitated, and then suggested that maybe he shot at me, and accidentally hit me. I don't want to tell them about my dreams, because I don't want them to lock me up, like they might. Especially when they find out about me telling Grant before them.

Then they had told me that he seemed to be talking to himself. And that he was saying strange things.

"And I believe I told you about Grant acting weird when he fell asleep against the punch bag..." I trail off, connecting the dots. The punch bag, the shower...

"Coulson, I've figured it out!" I grab his arm tightly, my finger tips digging into his skin almost painfully. Coulson squirms, the only indication that I'm hurting him. "He's hallucinating!"


	22. Chapter 22: Accepting

**Hey guys! I'm back! I'm so sorry about the long delay, but I got caught up writing this original book of mine - over 100, 000 words in 30 days! **

**But anyway, I'll be back to updating again, although I probably will only be able to get you a chapter every couple of weeks because of the amount of catching up I have to do on these fan fics. **

**If you guys read any of my other stories, they'll be updated within the next week or so.**

**Enjoy! x**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two: Accepting**

_**Grant**_

"What happened to you?" John Garrett asks as he asks into my hotel room. Grant Ward glares at the older man as he attempts to clean up a knife wound in his side. He's bent over the sink, red everywhere. Grant fiddles with the wound, cringing as it sends sharp pain up into his head, but he finally manages to clean it up.

"Let me do it." Garrett rolls his eyes, picking up a needle and thread. Instinctively, Grant takes a step back from the man. Garrett only asks help when he needs a favour.

Garrett fixes him look.

"Ward." He warns. "Let me fucking help."

"Fine." Grant allows the man to stitch him up. "But you better not get me to do anything weird this time."

"So I ask you to pick up my laundry once..." Garrett laughs, rolling his eyes, knowing that is definitely not what Grant means.

Grant bites his lip, trying not to let out a whimper of pain as Garrett stitches him up quickly, not bothering to make it as painless as possible. Instead, Grant's pretty sure he's making it as painful as possible.

"See?" Garrett steps back to admire his handiwork. "Done."

"What do you want, then?" Grant asks tiredly, pulling his shirt on. He should really bandage up his wound, but he's too tired. All he wants to do is collapse asleep on the bed.

"Nothing much." Garrett grins sadistically, knowing that Grant will accept anything the older man asks for. It's how he raised Grant to behave, after all. "Just a little favour..."

* * *

"Perfect..." I mumble. "Is only an illusion."

I've been alone for a while now. May left me some time ago. Coulson came next, but he left soon after. Even Garrett has left him.

"Everyone leaves me." I mutter, closing my eyes. Maybe I can get a little bit of rest before May comes back. I think fuzzily. My face hurts. My ribs hurt. To be honest, everywhere hurts. May didn't hold back. Not one bit.

I can't remember if Coulson told me if I killed Skye. Skye. The gentle stroke of defiance in my life, the only thing I disobeyed the script for. I went against how I was meant to act, for her.

And then I tried to kill her.

I can't remember where I pointed the gun. I can't remember where I shot. I can't remember.

"Skye."

"Skye, I'm sorry."

"Skye, I didn't want to."

"Skye, I think I love you."

"Skye, I don't want you to die."

"Skye..."

"Skye." I can't think of anything to say, so I fall back into silence.

* * *

"Read this." Garrett hands Grant Ward a huge bundle of paper. Grant looks at with confusion, and then looks back up at Garrett.

"What is this?" Grant asks the older man. Garrett grins.

"The files of all your fellow agents on this mission to Moscow you're doing next month." Garrett tells him. Grant gapes at him.

"But I don't have the clearance for this!" He protests, holding the files in his hands as if it's a boiling hot stone. A stone he doesn't want.

"Boy, working for HYDRA means that sometimes you're going to have to forget stupid things like the agent level you're at. Understand?" Garrett fixes Grant with a steely glare. "Or do I have to remind you?"

Grant swallows, his eyes immediately flicking to his arm where Garrett nearly impaled it on a knife just a few days ago. Luckily, the man slipped at the last moment (leaving Grant to think that Garrett preferred the fear over actually injury), and now all Grant had was a shallow gash going across his forearm.

"Well?" Garrett folds his arms over his chest, his eyes glinting. Grant stares at those eyes for a little longer before he drops his own eyes to the paper bundle in front of him.

"I understand, sir." He says quietly. Slowly, he starts to flick through the file, feeling like the coward he is.

"Good boy." Garrett ruffles his hair, praising him as you would a loyal dog. A loyal, faithful and very stupid dog. A dog that accepts every scrap of praise his master gives him, and maybe, just maybe, his master might give him a little more praise if he does the job right.


	23. Chapter 23: Fixing?

**Hey guys, what's up? I know it's been a while since the last update, but unfortunately that's a pattern that might be repeating, due to me concentrating most of my efforts on my original writing. **

**Anyway, I've made this Skyeward video on YouTube if you want to check that out. It's my first attempt at making a tribute type video: Skye and Ward moments put to music. _The link is on my profile page._**

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**Chapter Twenty-Three: Fixing?**

I shut the door quickly, checking that no-one's followed me before whirling around to look at Grant. He sits in the chair, staring sightlessly at the floor.

"Grant?" I try to grab his attention. Grant doesn't react, doesn't even blink. I frown, and move over to him, crunching down by his chair. I rest a hand on his knee and he flinches away from my touch even as his eyes keep still. I move my hand away from him quickly.

"Oh, Grant." I murmur softly, my eyes searching his bruised face. His eyes look empty, and it breaks my heart. "What did they do to you?"

That seems to break Grant out of his daze as his eyes focus on mine finally.

"Skye?" He whispers, his voice hoarse and scraping. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?" He asks, gathering urgency as his continues speaking.

"Shhh, Grant." I move my hand back to his knee, and he flinches again, the action sudden and violent. "I had to see you."

"But Coulson-" He starts, but I cut him off, raising my hand to brush his hair away from his face. Yet again, Grant flinches away at first, before taking a shuddering breath and keeping still. I leave my hand against his face.

"Coulson and May don't know I'm here." I reassure him. After my conversation with them earlier, I demanded to be able to see Grant. May however, told me it was too dangerous, and Coulson agreed with her. So I pretended to agree too, and then later that night I snuck out of the infirmary to see him. I had to see him. "But Grant, honey, how are you? Are you okay, as much as you can be?"

Grant's eyes flicker over to the corner of the room briefly, and a look of fear passes through his eyes. But when I follow his gaze, I see nothing but shadows. So why did he look over there, and why did that look of fear flicker over his eyes? For no reason? Or because he's hallucinating? I narrow my eyes. One way or the other, I will get to the bottom of this. I _will._

"I'm sorry, Skye." Grant says instead of answering my question. His eyes are filled with guilt. "I shot you. I'm sorry. So sorry."

"You didn't shoot me, Grant." I tell him firmly, grabbing his chin in my hand to keep his eyes looking at me instead of at the corner. I _refuse_ to fight a _hallucination_ for Grant's attention.

"I _did!"_ Grant insists. "I didn't want to, but I _did_, Skye. I did!"

"_You_ didn't, Grant!" I lean forward. "_Garrett_ did."

He pauses, his brown eyes darting to and fro.

"…Garrett?" Grant repeats confusedly.

"In my dreams!" I nod, glad I seem to have gotten through to him. "Remember Garrett in my dreams can hurt me." I speak slowly, as if I'm talking to a child. Grant's mind is damaged at the moment, so I don't want to overload him. I move my fingertips through his hair soothingly, trying to make him feel comfortable with my touch. "Garrett shot at me in my dream, so it must have hurt me in real life too. So it was _him_. Not _you._"

"But I had a gun?" Grant mumbles, sounding as if he's asking a question. "I had a gun." He says more assertively. "I had a gun, and I shot it."

"You must have missed me." I ruffle the hair on the back of his head, smiling slightly as I try to reassure him. "Okay? Because I know that you would _never _hurt me." It's the truth. I know that Grant would never choose to shoot me. It must have been Garrett, because I trust Grant. I trust him.

"But-" He starts again.

"No buts, Grant." I interrupt. "Oaky? No buts."

Grant hesitates, blinking slowly. I wait patiently for it to comprehend in his head. He goes to say something, but seems to think otherwise as he swallows his words.

"Okay." He murmurs, a ghost of a smile twitching on his lips. "No buts."

"Good." I try to smile, but my heart is silently sobbing at what happened to Grant. How I couldn't see that he was hallucinating. Although I know that Coulson and May were only doing what they thought was right, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to fix him now, not when I'm not too sure where to even start.


End file.
